For our body, breathing is very important. The necessary oxygen enters the respiratory system , which contributes to the oxidation of organic substances, and carbon dioxide is released. The process of oxidation in cells is a source of energy release, which is necessary for life. Humanity in the process of its development, studying the processes of respiration, has learned to use this ability of the human body with even greater benefit for itself. As a rule, the techniques are aimed at rejuvenation, healing the body.
So, one of the types of training, which is based on breathing, or rather productive breathing, is widely used by athletes to achieve high results. It is called hypoxic training. We will talk further about what it is and what it consists of.
What is more curative: oxygen or carbon dioxide?
People have long known that mid-mountain air has a very beneficial effect on the human body. Why is this happening? Mountain air is discharged and has a low oxygen content. It is this factor that has a beneficial effect on all internal organs. But in order to feel it fully, it is necessary to stay in such conditions for at least 30 days. Mountain air has a healing and restorative effect.
But besides this, there are also negative aspects of staying in the mountains:
- Low atmospheric pressure.
- Radioactive and ultraviolet.
- We must not forget about low air temperatures.
The combination of these factors is not everyone tolerates well.
It has been observed that the benefit lies precisely in light oxygen starvation. In the lowland territories, this state can be achieved using the method of holding breaths of different durations, reducing breathing, and by performing some physical exercises.
Scientists note: if a sick person is allowed to breathe oxygen with the addition of carbon dioxide, then his condition will improve significantly, unlike if he were breathing just oxygen. Carbon dioxide promotes better absorption of oxygen. When we exhale, we lose carbon dioxide, and if these losses are reduced, it will have a beneficial effect on the body.
So, thanks to exercises that limit external respiration, contribute to delay, you can create a state of hypoxia, that is, a lack of oxygen. And, as a result, there will be a state of hypercapnia - this is an excess of carbon dioxide. Developed a method of hypoxic training Bulanov Yuri Borisovich.
Scientists noted that its regular implementation brings more benefits than a frequent stay in the mountains. Which is very good, since most of us do not live in the mountains.
Pros of the technique
Those involved in hypoxic training, note the following positive changes in the body:
- The work of the respiratory apparatus improves.
- Immunity is strengthened.
- Easily relieves stress.
- The breath becomes right, full.
- Brain function improves.
- Blood pressure is normalized.
- Fatigue is not so pronounced.
- Energy processes are improving at the cellular level.
- Sleep is normalized.
- Increased performance.
- The indicators of carbohydrate, protein, fat and electrolyte metabolism are changing for the better.
We also note which diseases can be treated and improved with overall health:
- Diseases and prevention of respiratory organs.
- Treatment of vascular diseases.
- Malignant tumors.
- Hypertension.
- Hormonal diseases.
- Obesity treatment.
- Protecting the body from stress.
- Rejuvenation of the body.
It is worth noting that hypoxic training shows good results in the early stages of rehabilitation of patients after:
- Long-term and severe illnesses.
- Myocardial infarction.
- Past stroke.
- After surgical interventions for cancer.
- After heavy surgery.
It should be noted that hypoxic training has contraindications.
Who to pay attention to
It is not recommended to engage in hypoxic training if the following occurs:
- Intolerance to lack of oxygen.
- The period of acute infectious diseases.
- Acute somatic diseases.
- Hypertension 3 stages.
- Coronary heart disease 4 FC.
- Congenital pathologies of the heart and large vessels.
- Chronic diseases with symptoms of decompensation of functions.
Consider how breathing training is performed.
Execution technique
The following technique for the development of hypoxic respiration is proposed.
One of the conditions for training in groups is to maintain a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. But you can easily master hypoxic workouts at home.
Consider its stages.
1. Start training with holding your breath at rest.
- Holding the breath makes an empty stomach.
- A break between delays of at least 1 minute, no more than 3 minutes.
- Between delays, breathing should be maintained.
2. Restriction of breath in everyday life.
- You must constantly feel a slight lack of air.
3. Holding the breath on the go.
4. Breath holding during inclines.
5. Step breathing.
6. Short-term breath holdings.
General recommendations for all levels of training can be given as follows:
- Daily breathing restriction.
- 3 times a day, enhanced training with severe hypoxia-hypercapnia.
- Observe the frequency of strong impacts and the gaps between them.
- It is necessary to allow the body to adapt to new conditions.
Consider the simplest method of hypoxic training.
The instructions for a simple breath hold look like this:
1. The following conditions must be met:
- Sit down and relax your muscles.
- Hold your breath between inhale and exhale.
- Look at the clock, noting the time.
The following sensations may appear:
- The discomfort.
- Suffocation.
2. After this condition becomes unbearable, it is necessary to start making respiratory movements, namely, to imitate breathing. In this case, you need to try to keep from real breathing for some more time.
With a long breath hold, such sensations are further possible:
- Lack of air.
- Redness of the skin.
- Sensation of heat first in the face, then in the limbs and then in the whole body.
- The pulse quickens.
- The vessels expand.
- A slight perspiration appears.
- Perhaps the performance of tears in his eyes.
3. At this point, it is recommended to interrupt the delay and start breathing. But you need to start breathing shallow. Do not give in to the desire to catch your breath, but to slightly support mild hypoxia. After rest, proceed to the next delay. Break - from 1 to 3 minutes.
Holding your breath is estimated as follows:
- Up to 15 seconds is very bad.
- From 15 to 30 seconds is bad.
- 30-45 seconds is satisfactory.
- 45-60 seconds is good.
- Over 60 seconds is excellent.
Knowing our time, we can assess the body's resistance to oxygen starvation. Assess your level of resilience.
What are hypoxic workouts
There are several types of them:
1. Climatic therapy.
About how useful the mountain air was described earlier. But there are significant drawbacks to this type of therapy. It:
- For the treatment and prevention of the disease, it takes from 30 to 60 days.
- There is no individual selection of a hypoxic factor.
- There are cases of poor tolerance of the mountain climate.
- Exacerbation of the disease forces you to return to lowland conditions.
- The location of the mountain resort.
- High cost of treatment for a course of 30 days.
But medicine does not stand still, and other types of hypoxic training have been developed.
2. Pressure chamber treatment.
Such treatment involves the use of special pressure chambers. However, here you can also highlight some of the disadvantages:
- Barotrauma.
- Isolation of the patient from the staff.
- An individual approach to the patient is limited.
- The high cost of equipment.
- Staff needed to service the pressure chamber.
Such treatment makes all of these shortcomings difficult to access, not only for patients, but also for healthcare, impractical.
3. Normobaric hypoxia. This is a method that increases the body's resistance due to addiction to hypoxia. It is achieved by breathing a gas mixture in which the oxygen content is reduced to 10%. In this case, normal atmospheric pressure is observed in a cyclically fractionated mode. There is another name for normobaric hypoxia - interval hypoxic training. Let's consider it in more detail.
Interval training
Consider what the concept of normobaric interval hypoxic training includes.
- Normobaric. This suggests that at the time of training, atmospheric pressure remains within the normal range of 730-760 mm Hg. Art.
- Hypoxic At the session, the patient inhales air with a low oxygen content. The norm is set by the attending physician in the range of 16-19%.
- Interval The gas mixture is inhaled at certain intervals, which have a strictly limited time frame. So, after a portion of gas, the patient breathes oxygen, the content in the air which will be 20.9%.
- Training. This is the process of training physiological and biological systems that help align the body. Namely: respiratory organs, blood circulation, biochemical processes in the body, blood formation.
The interval hypoxic training method has several advantages over previous methods:
- Possibility of selecting a dosage of hypoxic effects.
- Individual selection of exposure regimen.
- It has no side effects.
- Eliminates the influence of adverse mountain climate factors.
It is worth noting: in order for hypoxic training to be effective, the following conditions must be adhered to:
- Hypoxic effects on the body should last 3-10 minutes, no more.
- The duration of the session per day should be such that the body can develop adaptive responses.
- The total duration of the session per day is not more than 1.5-2 hours.
- Training should be regular in order to achieve the desired result.
Classes can be divided by degree of difficulty, taking into account the oxygen content in the air:
- Moderate hypoxia. It develops when the oxygen content in the inhaled air decreases from 20-15%.
- Acute hypoxia. The oxygen content is in the range of 15-10%.
- Super acute hypoxia. The presence of oxygen in the inhaled air is below 10%.
Hypoxic training athletes
It is known that the combined training method is more effective than a prolonged state of hypoxia in the pressure chamber in the mountains or in artificial conditions.
During the athlete's training, it is necessary to highlight the main parameters:
- Training load planning.
- Direction of employment.
- Volume and intensity in microcycles of sports activities.
This is necessary in order to determine when to carry out interval hypoxic training in free time from sports.
In sports, two types of hypoxic stress are popular.
1. In a pressure chamber or in a special room, in a tent with a low oxygen content, with normal atmospheric pressure. The positive aspects of the method are time saving. It is possible to carry out physical training, and hypoxic combine with sleep.
Negative aspects: improper dosing of oxygen with a lower oxygen content can cause side effects: headache, poor recovery after exercise, loss of appetite, joint pain.
2. Using a mask. First you need to breathe through a mask with a low oxygen content, and then atmospheric air. Duration of classes is an average of 60 minutes.
The duration of the intervals and the concentration of oxygen is determined by the doctor. For each athlete, these values are individual and can be adjusted in the process. In one session, there may be several alternations of breathing through the mask and room air.
The masks used, hypoxicators, can be used not only by athletes. But they are also useful in the treatment and recovery of sick people.
Tips for athletes on IHT
Some tips for those who want to use hypoxic workouts. When training athletes, they give a good effect. Do not neglect them.
Introduce interval hypoxic training into the training process.
- It is necessary to make changes to the plan taking into account the intensity of classes and the load on the body.
- IHT should be applied year-round with pauses. Breaks should be no more than 4-6 weeks.
- There are features for every age. They can be used at 11 years old, and at 75.
- In adolescence, children are not recommended to use hypoxicators.
- It is necessary to concentrate on strength training on endurance, on speed and on improving the technique.
- Reduce the amount of functional training.
- Pay attention to nutrition, vitamins and recovery.
A few words about the hypoxic mask. They are widely used in training, mistaken that their use brings closer to IHT. The mask complicates the absorption of air, but does not reduce the partial pressure of oxygen, as in the mountains, so the hypoxic mask helps to train the respiratory system. Keep in mind that this increases the load on the heart muscle, it is necessary to consult a cardiologist before training with its use.
Possible phenomena at the initial stage of classes
It is immediately worth noting that the harm of hypoxic training has not been noted, but there may be phenomena that should alert you. In this case, hypoxic loads should be reviewed, and maybe canceled.
Possible manifestations:
- Cough.
- Pain in the stomach.
- Pain in the gall bladder. Small stones, sand depart.
- Headaches, dizziness.
- Numbness, tingling of limbs.
- Exacerbation of coronary heart disease.
- Exacerbation of hypertension.
At the initial stages of classes, the disease worsens and latent diseases make themselves felt.
With gallstones, hypertension and coronary heart disease, lower hypoxic loads are needed. But at the same time, the doctor does not recommend stopping classes. Gradually, the condition normalizes. With exacerbation, cores need to reduce the hypoxic load and extinguish the body's stress response. Gradually bring the workout to normal.
It is recommended for those who have low blood pressure to take adaptogens, which help strengthen the body and increase the body's resistance to hypoxia.
What will help prepare for training
Not every person easily switches to such training. Some need to prepare the body, namely, to increase adaptive capabilities. To do this, it is recommended to use the following methods:
1. Use adaptogen plants. These include: prickly eleutherococcus, Aralia Manchurian, golden root, Schisandra chinensis, high zamanica, safflower levzea, platanifolia sterculia, ginseng. Each of these plants has its own properties. But they should be taken only in the morning so as not to bring down daily biorhythms. The miraculous properties of these plants and the occupation of IHT together are able to enhance the positive properties of each, which contributes to a quick recovery.
2. Performing tensile exercises. With moderate physical activity, endorphins are released, which reduce pain, have a general strengthening effect, and increase the body's adaptive properties to hypoxia. And also it is a good remedy for depression, to lower cholesterol, for weight loss. Stretching exercises enhance protein synthesis and increase skeletal muscle strength and endurance.
3. Steam bath. Its action is as follows:
- A decrease in thyroid hormones.
- Blood circulation in the vessels improves due to their expansion.
- Increases the body's resistance to colds.
- The mood improves.
- The ability of glucose to penetrate the cell increases.
- Increases body stamina and resistance to hypoxia.
4. Running classes. When a person runs, he develops persistent hypoxia as a result of an increase in the body's need for oxygen. This is motor hypoxia. As a result of training, the mood improves, a feeling of euphoria appears, and the synthesis of endorphins, which have an analgesic effect and are able to improve well-being, is enhanced. Hormones and insulin are also released, which helps to adapt to hypoxia.
5. Dosed fasting. This is a very powerful stimulant that improves the adaptive properties of the body to hypoxia, but also has a healing effect. It strengthens the nervous system, enhances the breakdown of cholesterol. They recommend fasting at least one day a week. It is very important to start and then get out of fasting.
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